Scratch Card Making - Card Personalisation - Process or Plastic Scratch Card Manufacturing - Card Personalisation - Process; Scratch Card Manufacturing Machines, Plastic Card Printer, Card Laminator - Paper and Plastic - PVC, Teslin, Polycarbonate Substrates, Plastic Card and Paper Card Punching Machines or , Plastic Card and Paper Card Making Machines, Plastic Card Wrapping Machines, Plastic Card Laminating Machines, Card Printing and Personalisation Machines, 3-in-1 Plastic Card and Paper Card Making Machines, Plastic Card Printers, Door Key Personalisation Machines, High-speed Credit Card and Scratch Card Personalisation Machines, Credit Card Printing Machines, Credit Card Punching Machines, Paper based Scratch Card Machines, Hologram and Hot Foil Stamping Machines, Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) Card Personalisation Machines.

The Card Making Process or Card Manufacturing Process Explained:

 Focusing on Scratch Card or Telephone Top-up Card Manufacture

Professor Dr. R. B. Crawford

Chief Executive (CEO) HRODC Ltd.

Abstract

This article covers Scratch card Manufacturing Machines, Paper and Plastic Card Printers, Paper and Plastic Card Punching Machines, Paper and Plastic Card Making Machines, Paper and Plastic Card Wrapping Machines, Plastic Card Laminating Machines, Paper and Card Printing and Personalisation Machines, 3-in-1 Plastic Card Making Machines, Plastic Card Printers, Door Key Personalisation Machines, High-speed Credit Card Personalisation Machines - 1 million cards in 6.5 hours, Credit Card Printing Machines, Credit Card Punching Machines, Paper based Scratch Card Machines, Paper and Plastic Hologram and Hot Foil Stamping Machines.

In an effort to provide a better understanding of the card making process, the article categorises Cards into 8 groups, providing a brief description of each. It also groups card making machines into 5 distinguished types, following the sequence in which they are used. It addressed the functionality of each of the machines mentioned, indicating the advancing technology in the processes and the alternatives that are available.

While it does not explore the processes of producing credit cards, debit cards and Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards, it has given some hints with regards to what they involve. The pre-print cutting equipment and tape layers have been neglected mainly because of solutions that are available, thereby negating the crucial part that they place in the entire process.

  Introduction

 Many entrepreneurs intending to launch into the lucrative card making business, notably credit card making, scratch card making, lottery card making, security card making, among others, have little or no knowledge of the processes that are involved or the machines that are needed to complete the processes. This article is designed to address some of the questions that they usually have, shedding light on some of the confusing issues. The substrates include PVC, Teslin, Polycarbonate, Paper, PP film, OPP film, BOPP film, CPP film, LDPE film, HDPE film.

 While this article refers to credit card making machines, it is important to note that credit card machines are only one type of plastic card making machines. It might also be worth noting that most machines make different types of cards, using different types of materials. The range of, and adaptation of card making machines are as follows: scratch card machines; telephone scratch card making machine, lottery scratch card making machines, hot foil stamping machines, cold label stamping card machines, scratch card printing card machine, telephone card printing machines, card punch machines, card personalisation machine, card transport machine, card wrapping machines, card laminating machine, door opening card machines; card encoding machines; card punch machines, card wrapping machines, card printing Machines, Print Register 3-Up card Punch, manual fed Print Register 3-Up card Punch, paper-based card making machines, UPVC card making machines, entry level card making machines, automated card making machines.

 Card Groupings

For the purpose of this article, I would like to categorise cards into 8 groups, as follows:

1. Magnetic Stripe Cards - {(ISO 7811-2 Low Coercivity; ISO 7811-6 High Coercivity) Cards on which Magnetic Stripes are the main areas where the security Information is stored – e.g. Bank Cards and Credit Cards without Chip Modules; Some Transport Cards; Some ID / Membership Cards}

2. Barcode Cards (Cards on which Barcodes are the main Security Information Storage Areas)

3. Telephone Scratch-off Cards or Recharge Cards;

4. Smart Cards – Chip Module, Contact (ISO 7816);

5. Smart Cards – Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) Cards

6. Smart Cards - Contactless Cards {Proximity - ISO 14443A – (Mifare); ISO 18092 FeliCa}

7. Smart Cards - Contactless Cards {Vicinity ISO15693 – Access Control};

8. Dual Interface Cards – Combined Chip Module and Contactless Interface

Card Machine Types

The machines that are used to produce card groups 1-3 cards might be divided into 5 groups, with card types 4-6 requiring additional machines. The author refers to these 5 main types of machines are as follows:

1. Card Machine Type 1: Plastic Card Printing Machines or Plastic and Paper Card Printers

2. Card Machine Type 2: Plastic Card Laminators or Plastic Card Laminating Machines And Polycarbonate Laminators

3. Card Machine Type 3: Card Punch Machine, Card Punching Machines or Card Cutting Machines

4. Card Machine Type 4: Card Personalisation Machines or Card Transport and Personalisation Machines

5. Card Machine Type 5: Card Wrapping Machines

 

Card Machine Type 1: Plastic Card Printing Machines or Plastic and Paper Card Printers

 The first type of machine is the Card Printer. This is necessary to incorporate the design and printing of graphics on the front, and sometimes back, of the cards. The cards can be printed in roll (continuous sheets), sheets, single sheets, or individually (CR80, etc), roll and sheet printers being more widely used. Roll Printers can yield up to 1,200,000 CR80 cards per hour. The different types of printers, incorporating a variety of printing processes,  include:

• Offset sheet printers

• Offset roll printers

• Digital roll printers

• Flexographic printers

• Digital printers

• Screen Printers

• Wide format digital printers

• Screen printers require supporting equipment including:

• Air Compressor

• Exposure

• Screen Tension machine

These, including the screen printer, are illustrated, below:

Screen Printer

Air Compressor

Exposure Machine

Screen Tension Machine

UV Dryer - UV Curing Machine

 

 

Card Machine Type 2: Plastic Card Laminators or Plastic Card Laminating Machines And Polycarbonate Laminators

 

The card laminator is usually at the next stage of the production system, where, depending on the type of process decided on, the cards might be either be laminated in sheets then cut to size or the individual cards fed into the special card laminating machine. I use the term special because the card laminators are specialised machines and differ from the usual roll laminators or pouch laminators. These laminators perform at a very high temperature. However, those designed to work on polycarbonates are capable of withstanding an even higher temperature. Polycarbonates are used in some aspects of the card making industry because of the uniqueness in appearance that they create. As plastics, they have a lower specific gravity compared to other poly-based materials. They are usually used in items such as automobiles, cell phones, computers, consumer electronics, household appliances, CDs, DVDs, food storage containers and bottles, and as laminate bullet proofing. However, they are becoming increasingly popular in the card-making industry and widely used as door-openers. Their heat resistance properties require a very high temperature for adhesion to take place. A special card laminator is therefore used to laminate the credit cards and other cards derived from them.

 

Card Machine Type 3: Card Punch Machine, Card Punching Machines or Card Cutting Machines

 Card punch machines cut the sheet cards to size, before personalisation – the adding of personalised information, that creates the uniqueness that individual cards deserve. The card punch machines cut and shape the cards to the required design, ready for the next process. I say the next process because the next process could either be printing or personalisation. If we are working on the assumption that a sheet printer is being used, then the cards would have been printed before thereby are cut to size, making personalisation the next stage. However, if you intend to use individually fed printer, manual or automatic, then the next process is printing, card punching having taken place before printing. It is important to note that when we refer to printing, we really mean front-end printing because personalisation machines also print on the cards, some sophisticated enough to print logos. It is important to note, at this stage, that some digital card laminators are versatile enough to combine with and synchronise the die-cutting operation, at a finishing speed of up to 75,000 CR80 cards per hour. Another important feature of these machines is their automated dual type operation as a sheet-fed and roll-fed system, with wind and unwind facility.

 Card Machine Type 4: Card Personalisation Machines or Card Transport and Personalisation Machines

 Most card personalisation machines combine the movement of the cards and the adding of required information, thereby called transport and personalisation machines.   These machines are usually quite versatile, so as to print logos, magnetic stripes and barcodes.  One of the most important function of this type of machine is its ability to apply the tamper-proof security panel to the cards, covering the PIN. The security or scratch-off panels are applied using a variety of methods, including:

• Hot Foil Stamping

• Holographic Label Application

• Plain Label Application

• Flexographic Label Printing

 The personalisation machines are usually modular, with different modules or stations performing particular function. Their module function include:

• Card In-feeding

• Barcode Printing

• Barcode Reading

• Ink-Jet Printing – for security coding and serialisation

• Thermal Printing

• Laser Engraving

• Magnetic Stripe Encoding

• Label Application

• Camera Inspection

• Chip Encoder

• Secure Panel Overlay Applicator

• Batch Counter

• Double Detect

• Chip Programming of contact and Contactless cards

• Embossing

• Printing and coding

• Printing, coding and magnetic encoding

• Printing, coding, labelling

• Magnetic encoding

• Hot stamping

• Hologram Application

• Graphics Generation

• Card Out-feeding

 At the high-end of the market card personalisation production capacity exceeds 40,000 per hour.

As was indicated earlier, for the manufacture of card groups 4-6, additional machines are usually required for the following processes:

• Drilling

• Chip Pre-coding – Pre-personalisation encoding

• Adhesive Application

• Chip Placing

• Chip encoding – Post-personalisation encoding

• RFID Encoding

• Embossing

• Tipping

A single specialised machine can perform all these functions on a continuous automated basis. This All-In-One machine might also incorporate a Printer and Card Mailing System, thereby automating and ‘securing’ the issuing of Credit Cards and Bank Debit Card.

 Card Machine Type 5: Card Wrapping Machine

 This type of card production machine is often confused with card laminators. While card laminators preserve the appearance of the cards from wear and tear of usage, a card wrapping machine represents the packaging aspect of cards. They might wrap or seal individual or groups of cards in cellophane to render them tamper proof.   They also prevent them from pre-use damage in transport, storage   or at point of sale. Both processes, nevertheless, add aesthetic value to the cards. Therefore, from a marketing perspective, they are both important.

Card wrapping machines are of two types. One card wrapping machine places the scratch card or prepaid telephone scratch off cards individually in a perforated belt of up to 25 cards (using cellophane or polyurethane). The other type of card wrapper or card wrapping machine stacks the cards into sets of varying numbers, ready for shipping to prepaid telephone or other types of scratch off card retailers  As is indicated above, this process is often performed by some card transport and personalisation machines, with the addition of the appropriate module. Although important, its utilisation is a matter of choice - rather than a compulsory item.

Cards can be either flow-wrapped or 4-sided sealed, not both. Card wrapping machines might perform one or a combination of the following functions:

1. Flow-wrapping (two landscape ends sealed, and folded on the underside, otherwise referred to as 2-sided seal);

2. 4-sided sealed sealing (no folding on the under-side);

3. Individual wrapping;

4. Wrapping and perforating belts of say 10 or 25;

5. Over-wrapping single cards in batches of say 50 sets of 25;

6. Over-wrapping perforated belts of cards in sets of say 50, 100, 200;

7. Barcode labelling of individually wrapped cards or sets of cards;

8. Security etching of individual cards;

9. Security-stamping of individual cards;

10. Labelling boxed cards;

11. Using sensors and cameras to monitor card wrapping and packing, rejecting out-of-sequence cards, as appropriate.

The substrates used in the card wrapping process are poly-based and might be a variation of  PP film, OPP film, BOPP film, CPP film, LDPE film, HDPE film 

Summary and Conclusions

 While 5 machines are the norm in telephone scratch card or telephone recharge card production system, only machine number 4 is of absolute necessity. As indicated earlier, pre-printed credit cards can be purchased at a reasonable cost, particularly suited for those entrepreneurs who are not certain of the ultimate profitability of their venture or who have a limited financial outlay, at the outset. Most card personalisation machines are module based, facilitating the addition of modules to perform additional functions. Because some card personalisation machines facilitate numerous processes, in excess of those normally performed by ordinary personalisation systems, they are regarded as all-in-one card production systems. They are also capable of working on different types of base materials such as paper, poly vinyl chloride (PVC) polycarbonate, vinyl and laminate. They are also All-in-one Credit card making machines, Debit Card Making Machines, and SIM Card Making Machines because these devises are capable of performing a wide range of processes that individual machines generally perform. These card machines include: scratch card machines; telephone scratch card making machine, lottery scratch card making machines, hot foil stamping machines, cold label stamping card machines, scratch card printing card machine, telephone card printing machines, card punch machines, card personalisation machine, card transport machine, card wrapping machines, card laminating machine, door opening machines; card encoding machines; card punch machines, card wrapping machines, card printing Machines, Print Register 3-Up card Punch, manual fed Print Register 3-Up card Punch, paper-based card making machines, UPVC card making machines, entry level card making machines, automated card making machines.

 We have neglected one machine in the processes described above, not that it is obsolete but that its use can be circumvented. This is the magnetic tape-layer or the magnetic tape laying machine. Usually, where needed, the magnetic stripes are laid on the card roll or sheets before printing and cutting. However, it is now possible to use laminating film sheets or laminating film rolls that  are manufactured with  embedded magnetic stripes. It is also possible to print on the magnetic stripes onto the sheets or rolls or paper, PVC, Teslin and other substrates, a process that is commonly used in the transport system of several countries. Although not previously covered in this article, you should note that the sheet format of Paper, PVC and some other substrates are usually produced in wide formats, typically 1025mmX1850 mm for PVC sheets, representing 12 A3 Sheets, and 450 mm X640 mm for paper-based card sheets. It will be necessary to cut these into the appropriate sizes that the printer will accommodate.

How HRODC Ltd. Can Help New and Existing Card Manufacturers

 Professor Crawford has written the above article to provide people who are thinking about venturing into the card making business, with needed information to enable them to make that vital purchasing decision. However, we can do even more; we can provide them with the advice that they need to meet their unique or specific  needs. We will provide advice of the technical and practical features of the different types and brands of machines.

•  If we have an idea of your budget, we can guide you through the selection of the most appropriate machine to meet you needs.

• If we know what types of cards you are going to produce, we can recommend the most suitable machines for you.

• If you tell us the number of cards that you need to manufacture per hour, we can  match the different types of machines: printers, laminators, card punch machine, card transport and personalisation machine, and card wrapping machines that will help you to surpass your  stipulated production capacity

• If we have an idea of your business plan, then we can provide you with the type of machines that can grow with your business, with the addition of modules to facilitate additional operation or to alter certain specification to increase production capacity.

 This advice is available to you, absolutely free. You do not even have to purchase them from us.

 For existing card manufacturers, we can provide you with: